Marieke van Vugt
@mvugt.bsky.social
computational cognitive neuroscientist (assoc prof
@unigroningen.bsky.socialc) studying mind-wandering using cogsci and AI techniques, also amateur ballet dancer and Tibetan buddhist
@unigroningen.bsky.socialc) studying mind-wandering using cogsci and AI techniques, also amateur ballet dancer and Tibetan buddhist
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Mixing languages using Jupyter notebooks
russpoldrack.substack.com/p/mixing-lan... - the latest in my Better Code, Better Science series
russpoldrack.substack.com/p/mixing-lan... - the latest in my Better Code, Better Science series
Mixing languages using Jupyter notebooks
Better Code, Better Science: Chapter 6, Part 5
russpoldrack.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Mixing languages using Jupyter notebooks
russpoldrack.substack.com/p/mixing-lan... - the latest in my Better Code, Better Science series
russpoldrack.substack.com/p/mixing-lan... - the latest in my Better Code, Better Science series
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Grateful to @emilymbender.bsky.social for being able to distinguish
probabilistic language generators from conscious human beings. Would that hers were the “dominant” voice - we would be at less risk of economic collapse!
probabilistic language generators from conscious human beings. Would that hers were the “dominant” voice - we would be at less risk of economic collapse!
Okay, I hestitate to even share this link, because while I like NYMag I do not want to send this journalist in particular clicks, b ut:
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
Is ChatGPT Conscious?
Many users feel they’re talking to a real person. Scientists say it’s time to consider whether they’re onto something.
nymag.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Grateful to @emilymbender.bsky.social for being able to distinguish
probabilistic language generators from conscious human beings. Would that hers were the “dominant” voice - we would be at less risk of economic collapse!
probabilistic language generators from conscious human beings. Would that hers were the “dominant” voice - we would be at less risk of economic collapse!
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
You can think of decisions as evidence accumulation, and the accumulator as an RL policy. Then, dopamine in the basal ganglia works by dynamically changing policy to maximize reward rate 🤯 A tour de force modeling paper by @tdverstynen.bsky.social and team! journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
How cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic subnetworks can shift decision policies to increase reward rate
Author summary The task of selecting an action among multiple options can be framed as a process of accumulating streams of evidence, both internal and external, up to a decision threshold. A decision...
journals.plos.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
You can think of decisions as evidence accumulation, and the accumulator as an RL policy. Then, dopamine in the basal ganglia works by dynamically changing policy to maximize reward rate 🤯 A tour de force modeling paper by @tdverstynen.bsky.social and team! journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown, special agents at the Homeland Security Department have made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than they did the previous fiscal year, according to internal government documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Drug Arrests and Gun Seizures Fell as Homeland Security Pursued Immigration
Internal documents reveal the impact on crime fighting as the Trump administration diverts special agents to its mass deportation agenda.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown, special agents at the Homeland Security Department have made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than they did the previous fiscal year, according to internal government documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
ZPID Trier: Junior professorship (W1-equivalent) Psychological Metascience (with tenure-track to W2 LBesG-equivalent) (f/m/d) leibniz-psychology.onlyfy.jobs/job/10kku5n7 #Stellenangebot
Junior professorship (W1-equivalent) Psychological Metascience (with tenure-track to W2 LBesG-equivalent) (f/m/d)
leibniz-psychology.onlyfy.jobs
November 25, 2025 at 11:42 AM
ZPID Trier: Junior professorship (W1-equivalent) Psychological Metascience (with tenure-track to W2 LBesG-equivalent) (f/m/d) leibniz-psychology.onlyfy.jobs/job/10kku5n7 #Stellenangebot
just published: my PhD student Siwen Sheng's first paper from her PhD project: Inside the Wandering Mind: Self-Referential Processing and Spontaneous Thoughts in Individuals Vulnerable to Depression
trebuchet.public.springernature.app/get_content/...
trebuchet.public.springernature.app/get_content/...
trebuchet.public.springernature.app
November 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
just published: my PhD student Siwen Sheng's first paper from her PhD project: Inside the Wandering Mind: Self-Referential Processing and Spontaneous Thoughts in Individuals Vulnerable to Depression
trebuchet.public.springernature.app/get_content/...
trebuchet.public.springernature.app/get_content/...
Waste not: how researchers harness pee and poo for science www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Waste not: how researchers harness pee and poo for science
It might seem gross, but these materials are treasure troves for research.
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Waste not: how researchers harness pee and poo for science www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Now out: new work by my PhD student Xinyu Li : Evaluating the impact of input noise and ERP-based penalties on the physiological plausibility of EEG generation using WGAN-GP authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
authors.elsevier.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Now out: new work by my PhD student Xinyu Li : Evaluating the impact of input noise and ERP-based penalties on the physiological plausibility of EEG generation using WGAN-GP authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute
Objectives To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting Research institute ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 20, 2025 at 3:44 AM
70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Sad to see the CDC is now spreading fairly straightforward lies.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Sad to see the CDC is now spreading fairly straightforward lies.
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
My new favorite kind of meme is "here are detailed instructions on how to turn off AI". 🔨
November 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
My new favorite kind of meme is "here are detailed instructions on how to turn off AI". 🔨
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
My lab is recruiting PhD students for fall 2026. Please reach out if interested!
November 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
My lab is recruiting PhD students for fall 2026. Please reach out if interested!
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Recovery, relapse, and genetic risk in eating disorders.
A Danish study of more than 10,000 people with anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS found that almost 9 in 10 reached a period of remission, and that genetic factors shaped who recovered and who relapsed.
#EatingDisorders #Genetics
🧵 THREAD
A Danish study of more than 10,000 people with anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS found that almost 9 in 10 reached a period of remission, and that genetic factors shaped who recovered and who relapsed.
#EatingDisorders #Genetics
🧵 THREAD
November 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Recovery, relapse, and genetic risk in eating disorders.
A Danish study of more than 10,000 people with anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS found that almost 9 in 10 reached a period of remission, and that genetic factors shaped who recovered and who relapsed.
#EatingDisorders #Genetics
🧵 THREAD
A Danish study of more than 10,000 people with anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS found that almost 9 in 10 reached a period of remission, and that genetic factors shaped who recovered and who relapsed.
#EatingDisorders #Genetics
🧵 THREAD
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Can we please discuss accessibility at conferences?
When organizers and schedules assume that everyone can walk fast and climb stairs, people with mobility issues (visible or invisible) might feel excluded.
/
When organizers and schedules assume that everyone can walk fast and climb stairs, people with mobility issues (visible or invisible) might feel excluded.
/
November 20, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Can we please discuss accessibility at conferences?
When organizers and schedules assume that everyone can walk fast and climb stairs, people with mobility issues (visible or invisible) might feel excluded.
/
When organizers and schedules assume that everyone can walk fast and climb stairs, people with mobility issues (visible or invisible) might feel excluded.
/
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
How the Avalanche of Academic Papers Threatens Scientific Research, by Vince Bielski
'Editor-in-Chief Anna Stilz at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led a revolt that culminated in the mass resignation of the journal’s entire editorial staff and board.'
www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/202...
'Editor-in-Chief Anna Stilz at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led a revolt that culminated in the mass resignation of the journal’s entire editorial staff and board.'
www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/202...
How the Avalanche of Academic Papers Threatens Scientific Research
This is the third part of a series on academic publishing. Read part one here and part two here.
For many years, the prestigious journal Philosophy & Public Affairs published about
www.realclearinvestigations.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:39 AM
How the Avalanche of Academic Papers Threatens Scientific Research, by Vince Bielski
'Editor-in-Chief Anna Stilz at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led a revolt that culminated in the mass resignation of the journal’s entire editorial staff and board.'
www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/202...
'Editor-in-Chief Anna Stilz at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led a revolt that culminated in the mass resignation of the journal’s entire editorial staff and board.'
www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/202...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
George Deane and Daphne Demekas win the € 20.000,- Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize
mpe-project.info/wp-content/u...
for 2025 with this contribution:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
mpe-project.info/wp-content/u...
for 2025 with this contribution:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
November 19, 2025 at 9:05 AM
George Deane and Daphne Demekas win the € 20.000,- Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize
mpe-project.info/wp-content/u...
for 2025 with this contribution:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
mpe-project.info/wp-content/u...
for 2025 with this contribution:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Very interesting work on extending the usefulness of biophysical neural network models (towards performing tasks, fitting experimental data, or all of the above).
I am super happy to share that our project on training biophysical models with Jaxley is now published in Nature Methods: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Jaxley: differentiable simulation enables large-scale training of detailed biophysical models of neural dynamics - Nature Methods
Jaxley is a versatile platform for biophysical modeling in neuroscience. It allows efficiently simulating large-scale biophysical models on CPUs, GPUs and TPUs. Model parameters can be optimized with ...
www.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Very interesting work on extending the usefulness of biophysical neural network models (towards performing tasks, fitting experimental data, or all of the above).
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Tomorrow 12pm (ET) at the MIT Consciousness Club. Consciousness Emerges From Neural Dynamics - Earl K. Miller (hey, that's me!). Join us via Zoom.
sites.google.com/view/mit-con...
#neuroscience
sites.google.com/view/mit-con...
#neuroscience
MIT Consciousness Club
The MIT Consciousness Club aims to foster interdisciplinary research on consciousness at MIT and in the broader Boston area by organizing a monthly event featuring an expert talk on consciousness foll...
sites.google.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Tomorrow 12pm (ET) at the MIT Consciousness Club. Consciousness Emerges From Neural Dynamics - Earl K. Miller (hey, that's me!). Join us via Zoom.
sites.google.com/view/mit-con...
#neuroscience
sites.google.com/view/mit-con...
#neuroscience
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Truly mind-blowing levels of hypocrisy from this admin on using government strong arming to threaten social media companies into censoring
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
November 19, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Truly mind-blowing levels of hypocrisy from this admin on using government strong arming to threaten social media companies into censoring
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
RL Debates 5: Anne "not everything is RL" Collins
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN
A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning
Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.
rdcu.be
November 19, 2025 at 7:28 AM
RL Debates 5: Anne "not everything is RL" Collins
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Anne delivered an amazing synthesis of her extensive work on how working memory shapes reward-based learning in humans.
📜 Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s41...
📽️ Watch the full presentation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqZ...
🧠🤖🧠📈
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
RIP Dr. Ekman @lapate.bsky.social @foxdotdrew.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 3:13 PM
RIP Dr. Ekman @lapate.bsky.social @foxdotdrew.bsky.social
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
if you are considering submitting an application for this position, you still have just under 2 weeks to do so
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
November 19, 2025 at 2:44 PM
if you are considering submitting an application for this position, you still have just under 2 weeks to do so
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
Half your brain cells are astrocytes, oscillating and modulating activity without spiking, while cortical neurons spike sparsely. So nearly 100% of cells are oscillating almost all the time, but only a minority of cells emit rare spikes. Maybe spikes are the tail and oscillations are the dog.
November 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Half your brain cells are astrocytes, oscillating and modulating activity without spiking, while cortical neurons spike sparsely. So nearly 100% of cells are oscillating almost all the time, but only a minority of cells emit rare spikes. Maybe spikes are the tail and oscillations are the dog.
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
LLMs destroy context. You used to be able to tell a crank website from a good source partly by its style.
But now we have a tool that puts careful research, incoherent garbage, and intentional shitposting through a kind of grammatical instagram filter, presenting them all with the same credibility
But now we have a tool that puts careful research, incoherent garbage, and intentional shitposting through a kind of grammatical instagram filter, presenting them all with the same credibility
The bigger change is presentation, historically, these emails were visually chaotic: sudden colour changes, ALL CAPS, screenshots pasted at random. Classic signs of disordered thinking. Now they’re neat, structured, and grammatically consistent. The delusion hasn't changed, but the formatting has.
November 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
LLMs destroy context. You used to be able to tell a crank website from a good source partly by its style.
But now we have a tool that puts careful research, incoherent garbage, and intentional shitposting through a kind of grammatical instagram filter, presenting them all with the same credibility
But now we have a tool that puts careful research, incoherent garbage, and intentional shitposting through a kind of grammatical instagram filter, presenting them all with the same credibility
Reposted by Marieke van Vugt
DecNef is a powerful tool for brain modulation, but it remains difficult to optimize; we built DecNefLab, a simulation framework using “virtual subjs” as ML generative models to prototype protocols before exps, & showed conditions in which DecNef fails to induce learning
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
DecNefLab: A Modular and Interpretable Simulation Framework for Decoded Neurofeedback
arxiv.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
DecNef is a powerful tool for brain modulation, but it remains difficult to optimize; we built DecNefLab, a simulation framework using “virtual subjs” as ML generative models to prototype protocols before exps, & showed conditions in which DecNef fails to induce learning
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...
arxiv.org/html/2511.14...